Something You Won't See In The Mainstream Media: Cool Temperatures Affecting Honeybees; Now It's Personal

I cannot make this stuff up.

Now it's honey.

The Rapid City Journal is reporting:

A month-long string of cooler temperatures in the Dakotas this summer has honey producers anticipating a drop in the states' honey crops.

North Dakota and South Dakota are the nation's top two honey producing states, with North Dakota churning out 34 million pounds in 2012 and South Dakota producing 17 million pounds.

Experts say those numbers will likely be down for 2013.

North Dakota is #1. I did not know South Dakota was #2, but it must be. I thought California was #2, but apparently property taxes on beehives got too expensive, and the bees downsized their hives. Joking. 

So, now it's too cool and honey production will be affected.

And so it goes.

Essay On The Bakken Boom From The Federal Reserve Bank Of Minneapolis

I haven't read this article yet, but it's going to be a good one. It was sent to me be a regular reader (thank you); it's an essay from The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis regarding the Bakken boom.

When I get time, I will come back to it and pick out some highlights for the archives.

***************************

This, from The Minot Daily News: 

WATFORD CITY - Watford City is in the midst of a complete make-over.
The once quiet community on the edge of the scenic North Dakota Badlands used to welcome visitors to a bit of the old West. Now it is renowned for something else - the epicenter of the Bakken oil boom.

"We are kind of in the eye of the storm now," said Gene Veeder, McKenzie County Tourism and Job Development Authority.

Veeder. Veeder. The name sounds familiar. But I digress.

Rusty old pick-ups coated with a mixture of red scoria and gray dust with a rugged rancher behind the wheel were once common on Watford City's Main Street. Today the pick-ups are almost exclusively newer model "dualies," the trademark method of travel for workers maintaining the furious pace of progress in the Bakken. Unlike a mere year or two ago, the street is almost always crowded with vehicles. Pedestrians braving crosswalks do so with utmost caution.

Other changes are visible, too, in all parts of town. Change has come rapidly to Watford City. New hotels, housing developments, apartments and retail stores continue to be constructed at a break-neck pace. As the race for oil continues, so, too, does the unprecedented growth in the region.

"It feels better here now than it did last year," Veeder said. "A lot of construction is going on but we are kind of turning the corner now. Coming from a town of 1,600 we figure a population of 8,000 to 10,000 is a pretty fair statement. I'm being conservative. Everyone was crashed into a small space here."

And it continues at the linked article. A great piece of journalism.

Last year (2012), I opined that the Bakken action would move to McKenzie County.

Tell Me Again Why "We" Needed / Wanted ObamaCare

ObamaCare was sold to us because it was stated over and over again that somewhere between 10 million and 30 million Americans were without health insurance. The number was always in question, but most agreed that it was made up of three groups: a) the young and healthy males and non-pregnant females who did not want health insurance; b) the undocumented ("illegal"?) aliens; and, c) those in between jobs.

It appears that slowly and predictably, ObamaCare is unraveling one of the best health care systems in the world. The US health care systems had its problem but certainly whatever problems there were, they paled in comparison to what's coming down the track.

This site has regularly provided those updates and the train wreck (a democrat's description of O'BamaCare, not mine) is tracked here as well as at stand-alone posts tagged with ObamaCare or TrainWreck.

Now, today, one of the biggest wheels yet to fall off this train: UPS has just announced that it will drop 15,000 spouses from its health care plan. The reason: ObamaCare.

From the linked article:

United Parcel Service Inc. plans to remove thousands of spouses from its medical plan because they are eligible for coverage elsewhere. The Atlanta-based logistics company points to the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, as a big reason for the decision, reports Kaiser Health News.

The decision comes as many analysts are downplaying the Affordable Care Act's effect on companies such as UPS, noting that the move reflects a long-term trend of shrinking corporate medical benefits, Kaiser Health News reports. But UPS repeatedly cites Obamacare to explain the decision, adding fuel to the debate over whether it erodes traditional employer coverage, Kaiser says.

Rising medical costs, “combined with the costs associated with the Affordable Care Act, have made it increasingly difficult to continue providing the same level of health care benefits to our employees at an affordable cost,” UPS said in a memo to employees.

According to Kaiser, UPS told white-collar workers two months ago that 15,000 working spouses eligible for coverage by their own employers would be excluded from the UPS plan in 2014.

UPS expects the move, which applies to non-union U.S. workers only, to save about $60 million a year, company spokesman Andy McGowan said.

The health law requires large employers to cover employees and dependent children, but not spouses or domestic partners, Kaiser adds.

Note: this applies only to spouses who are eligible for health care through their own employers and does not include spouses of union employees. The headline makes this sound worse that it is: in fact, it gets rid of the practice of employees getting health care benefits from two different plans. Good, bad, indifferent -- I don't know -- but that's about all it does. I don't think it's that big of a deal, but technically it does mean that some spouses will now have to find a new health care provider. In other words, they will join the list of those who will not be able to keep their current health care provider. 

Six (6) New Permits -- The Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA; OXY USA Has Another OXY USA Well; Liberty Resources Posts A Nice Well

Active rigs: 185

Six (6) new permits--

• Operators: Whiting (2), KOG (2), True Oil, CLR
• Fields: St Anthony (Dunn), Poe (McKenzie), Red Wing Creek (McKenzie), Leaf Mountain.
• Comments: Leaf Mountain is a relatively undeveloped field in Burke County, well north of Tioga; Oasis has a short lateral up there (#17476, Olson 11-20H, completed back in 2009; 47K to date)

Wells coming off the confidential list were posted earlier; see sidebar at the right. Oasis reported two nice wells.

And that was it; not much today.

Coming off the confidential list Thursday:

• 23384, 270, OXY USA, Joseph Carter 1-13-12H-141-96, St Anthony, t2/13; cum 15K 6/13;
• 23651, 820, Liberty Resources, Helling 150-101-7-6-1H, Pronghorn, t3/13; cum 47K 6/13;
• 24006, 451, CLR, Columbia 5-5H, Dollar Joe, no production data,
• 24470, drl, Statoil, Viking 16-15 3H, Poe, no production data,

**************************************

OXY USA's Joseph Carter well in the St Anthony oil field has produced in 4 months, 6 days, what some operators produce in 15 days; 29 stages; 1.8 million lbs; Pronghorn member of the Bakken formation (I believe the "Pronghorn member" is similar to the Sanish Sand(s) in Sanish oil field.

OXY USA states that "four members of the Bakken Formation were drilled: the Upper Bakken Shale member; the Middle Bakken Member; the Lower Bakken Shale Member; and, the Pronghorn Member.

The first member: a shale.
The second member: siltstone with poor porosity
The third member: a shale, sounding by description almost identical to the first member
The fourth member: siltstone with poor porosity; deeper into the member it showed a greater percentage of dolomite than siltstone;

Drilling time: re-entered on November 5, 2012, and reached bottom hole on November 28, 2012.

The St Anthony oil field is tracked here. I updated the field this morning. Remember: the older OXY USA wells used to be Anschutz wells.

**************************************

23384, see above, OXY USA, Joseph Carter 1-13-12H-141-96, St Anthony:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
6-2013	3823	0
5-2013	2286	0
4-2013	2191	0
3-2013	4925	0
2-2013	1715	0

23651, see above, Liberty Resources, Helling 150-101-7-6-1H, Pronghorn:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
6-2013	5395	1982
5-2013	6190	0
4-2013	10928	0
3-2013	17007	0
2-2013	6724	0

File Under: "The Horse Is Already Out Of The Barn"

Although the article is dated August 19, 2013, I think this is pretty old news (like about a month or so) -- or maybe it's just an update to anticipated action by the county. I forget. Whatever. The horse is already out of the barn.

The StarTribune is reporting:

After issuing more frac sand mining permits than any other county in Minnesota or Wisconsin over the past 36 months, Trempealeau County will take a hiatus to consider possible adverse health effects on citizens.

The County Board, applauded by an overflow crowd, Monday night voted overwhelmingly in favor of a moratorium of up to a year on permitting new sand facilities or allowing existing sites to expand.

“I’m very pleased,” said Sally Miller, the board member who authored the resolution. “This is going to slow things down and give us a chance to catch our breath.”

Proponents of the plan had argued it would allow the scenic county that sits across the Mississippi River from Winona, MN, to evaluate whether sand mining has a human cost. Those types of questions have largely gone unanswered as the county has approved 26 companies mining and processing silica sand on a total of 4,733 acres — and counting. County officials say interest in forming new mines remains strong.

Check back in a year.  My hunch is they ran out of workforce. And trucks. And acres.

Camille Paglia: Absolutely Nothing To Do With The Bakken But I Deserve A Break Today

The writer at Salon and I have exactly the same thoughts about Camille: "I didn’t always agree with Paglia, but I enjoyed her as a challenging provocateur."

My introduction to Camille Paglia was her incredible Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson. By the time I read this book, I had started my reading program, which began sometime in 2002. I was just starting to understand literature; Camille opened doors that I never knew existed. I assume there are a gazillion books that would have done the same, and it was just a matter of happenstance that I stumbled across Camille's book. I go back to it periodically and wish I could break my addiction to the Bakken and spend more time reading. Ah, perhaps in another life.

It's hard to pigeon-hole Camille. She is an art critic, and a movie critic (she provided the commentary for Basic Instinct; her commentary was mediocre, certainly not coming even close to Roger Ebert's Casablanca commentary, perhaps the best commentary ever, but of course, he had good material with which to deal).

Camille is a political provocateur, much like Hunter S Thompson (RIP). Her views on sexuality are probably just a bit too far to the end of the continuum beyond which I have problems. Although a registered and avowed Democrat, her views on sexuality are probably closer to those of Steve Forbes and William F. Buckley, though I certainly don't have any links to confirm those thoughts. Think capitalism and the dots begin to connect.

The interview at the linked Salon article begins with her most recent book, Glittering Images, which is another remarkable book. It is one I will share with the granddaughters when we get to studying art at a "deeper" level. The book is a must for anyone "new" to art: 100 pieces of art. One photo on each page with one page of description. Six of ten people found my review over at Amazon.com helpful. Smile. If Sexual Personae is her "Tale of Two Cities," Glittering Images is the "Reader's Digest" version, which requires about as much attention span as most millennials have; so it should do relatively well.

But the interview quickly moves to politics and her thoughts on Hillary and Benghazi and all the rest are right on, and that's obviously why Drudge linked this article.

On a lighter note, the interview ends with this, some of her fond memories:

I still gaze back fondly at Swanson’s fried-chicken entree. The twinkly green peas! The moist apple fritter!

I can't remember what I was watching the other night, but it was probably one of the special features on the "curb your enthusiasm" DVD's in which these fried-chicken TV dinners were also mentioned. I forget the exact year, but there was a period I went through a Swanson's fried-chicken dinner phase. I also remember two years when my diet pretty much consisted of tuna fish sandwiches (with dill pickles and Kraft salad dressing) on inexpensive (and non-nutritious) white bread and Campbell's bean and bacon soup.

Oasis Reports Two Huge Wells In The Sanish Today

These two Oasis wells are on the same pad, 100 feet apart from each other. They are both in the Sanish, one targeting the middle Bakken; one targeting the Upper Three Forks (though Oasis only states "Three Forks").

There are six wells in the section neighboring these wells on the east.

This spacing unit has two other wells (see below).

The Anonsen:

• 24079, 3,581, Oasis, Anonsen 5393 14-3B, Sanish, 36 stages, 4.1 million lbs (60c/40s); a nice well; t3/13; cum 71K 6/13; middle Bakken; drilled on same pad as the Flavin 5393 14-3T; 
• long lateral, of course; sections 3/10, running south ("5393" = 153-93)
• continuation of Oasis' development of the Sanish
• spud December 6, 2012; vertical depth ~9,975, reaching KOP on December 12, 2012
• curve build started December 21, 2012; TD reached January 23, 2013; 20,400 feet
• gas peaked to 4,200 units
• middle Bakken at this well is estimated at ~ 61 feet thick
• the summary erroneously states that the Anonsen is in the Alger Field

The Flavin:

• 24080, 2,627 Oasis, Flavin 5393 14-3T, Sanish, Three Forks, a nice well, 36 stages; 3.46 million lbs (100s); t3/13; cum 66K 6/13;
• long lateral; parallels the Anonsen;sections 3/10, running south ("5393" = 153-93)
• spud December 3, 2012; re-entered on the 26th; KOP reached on December 30, 2012
• curve build started on New Years Eve, 2012, at noon; total depth of the curved on New Year's Day; TD was reached on January 13, 2013
• highest trip agas in the lateral was 3,180 units;
• the Three Forks target zone at Flavin is estimated at 16 feet thick (no typo)

The other two wells in this section are located in the far northwest corner of 3-153-93:

• 17618, 881, Oasis, Langved 5393 11-3H, t8/09; Sanish, middle Bakken, cum 178K 6/13; cased hole, 2.5 million lbs (68c/32s);
• 23476, 2,513, Oasis, Whitten 5393 11-3B, Sanish, middle Bakken; t12/12; cum 102K 6/13; 36 stages; 4 million lbs (56c/44s);

Wednesday Morning Links, News, And Views; Oasis Has A Huge Well; Best Evidence Global Warming Is Over -- Global Beer Sales Down

Global Warming

Best evidence that global warming is history: global beer sales falling. Reuters is reporting.

Heineken NV issued a gloomy earnings report Wednesday, saying first half profit fell 17 percent because of bad weather, weak "consumer sentiment" in Europe and the United States, and slowing growth in developing countries. 

I cannot take the credit for connecting these dots: Don pointed this out. Insightful, as usual.

World News

Egyptian court orders the release of former President Hosni Mubarak.

Energy

I posted this yesterday:

With regard to RBN Energy's analysis of CBR_Canada, look at this Reuters article that Don just sent me: CBR_US pioneer "moving" to Canada. 

Instead, USD is shifting its attention away from the best-known U.S. shale oil plays toward Canada, announcing plans two weeks ago to help build what might be the biggest oil-by-rail terminal to serve the northern oil sands patch.

And although USD has now sold off 10 of the 14 terminals it built over the past decade or so, it has several other irons in the fire such as an offloading terminal in Washington state, inland facilities in Ohio or Alabama and possibly a Texas coast terminal.

I had never heard of USD until yesterday. I assume a lot of folks had not. But Goldman Sachs has. Bloomberg is reporting that Goldman Sachs has an inside track on the CBR boom:

While the role of Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) in global metals markets has fallen under a harsh regulatory spotlight this summer, the bank has also quietly enjoyed a privileged front-row seat to one of the most dynamic trading trends to emerge from the U.S. shale oil boom: shipping crude by rail.

Through a previously unreported minority investment in a small, privately held Texas-based firm called U.S. Development Group (USD) in 2007, Goldman Sachs has played a leading role in financing the expansion of nearly a dozen specialized terminals that can quickly load and unload massive, mile-long trains carrying crude oil and ethanol across the United States.

I  wonder if this might help explain the media's lack of interest in the runaway freight train story. Or maybe there just isn't that much to report.

Bakken Operations

Active rigs: 186 (trending up)

RBN Energy: update on Sunoco storage and transportation in east Texas; nearing a million bbls ofoil/day. 

Wells coming off confidential list have been posted; scroll down.  Several good wells including two nice XTO wells and a huge Oasis well. But a lot of wells are still going to DRL status; many due to operational requirements (pad drilling) but it certainly appears there are other reasons for the backlog.

WSJ Links

Only one story linked today, from the op-ed page. Remember all the articles you read about replaced the paper one dollar bill with a one-dollar coin. It is interesting to find out WHO is promoting this (a miner, surprise, surprise) and WHERE the miner is located (Iowa, surprise, surprise). From the op-ed page: 

The American people might be surprised to learn that for the past 20 years a handful of lobbyists and lawmakers—mostly from states with mining and metal-processing interests—have been pushing a proposal to take away dollar bills, and force the public to use metal coins instead.

The most recent attempt is the Currency Optimization, Innovation and National Savings (Coins) Act, sponsored by Sen. Tom Harkin (D., Iowa). This proposed law would prohibit the issuance of dollar bills after five years and replace them with dollar coins.

The otherwise obscure piece of legislation was recently catapulted into the spotlight when Coins Act co-sponsor, Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) made the somewhat dubious claim that switching to a dollar coin would mean higher-denomination tips for strippers.
The proposed legislation reeks of some of the most common problems with state-owned monopolies. The advocacy group promoting the Coins Act has the same address as PMX Industries, a South Korean firm located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, that supplies the U.S. Mint with the metal used to make dollar coins.

Along with its CEO, Jin Roy Ryu, the company in 2011 donated a combined $500,000 to the Harkin Institute of Public Policy at Iowa State University (now at Drake University) named after the senator.  

The solution is very, very interesting. See the link. The solution is typical journalesque.

Miscellaneous

Permian Basin services company setting up shop in Belle Fourche, SD, to support the Bakken. The Rapid City Journal is reporting:

The Black Hills region continues to attract new employers that service the energy industries in North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming. The latest addition is a tank-making company that is coming to Belle Fourche and bringing as many as 65 new jobs.

The Governor's Office of Economic Development said Tuesday that Texas-based Permian Tank & Manufacturing will expand its above-ground steel storage tank operations in Belle Fourche in the coming months.

Confirmation of the new employer came a day after the Belle Fourche City Council approved giving two lots in the city's new Industrial Rail Park lots to the community's new development company.

The new plant will anchor the recently developed industrial park that offers both major highway and rail access. The new plant could require up to 65 new employees; hiring is scheduled to begin next spring.

It goes without saying that "we're" fortunate the Bakken oil was under northwest North Dakota, and not under the Black Hills. But the Black Hills area has the open space and manpower to provide support for the Bakken, particularly southwest North Dakota, but also possibly the Niobrara. Time to look at the map again. 

Economy

July existing house sales jump to 3-year high -- as reported by Reuters.

Catty

Remember Zimmerman? President O'Bama said he could identify with the African-American youth that was stalked and killed. Now we have bored, lazy African-Americans (2) and one bored, lazy white teenager who (are alleged to have) killed a high-achieving white Australian. The question is: who will President O'Bama identify with in this most recent killing? He has many choices. You can't have it both ways. My hunch: he won't even mention it.